Murderer Arrested In Glendale Heights

Puerto Rican Fugitive Captured

December 22, 1995|By Ted Gregory, Tribune Staff Writer. The San Juan Star contributed to this article.

Even former cops who moonlight as hit men for drug traffickers need convenience stores. For Carlos Rios Reyes, a routine pit stop proved to be a critical mistake.

Reyes, a 30-year-old fugitive from Puerto Rico convicted of one murder on his home island and suspected of four more, was arrested after leaving the Convenient food store at 1599 Glen Ellyn Rd. in Glendale Heights this week. He now sits in DuPage County Jail awaiting an extradition hearing Tuesday.

"He has been taken off the streets and that is very important because he is a violent and very dangerous man," Interpol Special Agent Rolando Fuentes Lopez said from San Juan. He has been coordinating the hunt for Reyes since the former police officer disappeared from the San Juan courthouse on the day of his sentencing nearly four months ago.

How Reyes wound up arrested in Glendale Heights after leading a quiet life for about three months in an apartment there is a combination of comical error, logical guesses and phone checking.

It all started on March 17, 1993, authorities say, when Reyes, a tactical officer with the Puerto Rico police, was working his seamier job: hit man for drug trafficker Jose Israel Ruiz.

On orders from Ruiz, Reyes kidnapped Arnardo Santiago Martinez, who had the misfortune of falling behind on his drug debts, from a restaurant parking lot near San Juan, agent Lopez said. Reyes murdered Martinez and is suspected of at least four other drug-related murders, Lopez added.

When he was arrested later and charged in the Martinez killing, Reyes posted a bond of about $25,000 and was released to the custody of his attorney. Reyes fled Puerto Rico and was arrested in May on drug-trafficking charges in the Dominican Republic, Lopez said.

On May 10, Lopez retrieved Reyes from Santo Domingo and returned to Puerto Rico.

Reyes was convicted of Martinez's murder, and on the day of his sentencing hearing, Aug. 29, he arrived at the courthouse. But during a break just before the judge was to impose the sentence, he asked to go to the cafeteria to get aspirin for a headache.

"He went and never came back," Lopez said.

The judge sentenced Reyes in absentia and Lopez was called again to coordinate the manhunt. This time, the investigator had knowledge that Reyes' brother, son, ex-wife and cousin lived in the Chicago area. In addition, Lopez figured that Reyes' father, a police officer in San Juan, would be in contact with the fugitive.

After weeks of negotiations with the father failed to produce results, Lopez said he obtained records from the father's home phone and in mid-December was able to track calls to the Glendale Heights apartment Reyes shared with his new girlfriend.

Luckily for the agents, Reyes continued to use his cellular phone after turning fugitive, alerting them to his whereabouts.

Lopez notified the Illinois State Police in Elgin that Reyes was living in Glendale Heights and was considered extremely dangerous. State police contacted Glendale Heights police Monday to inform them that specially trained officers were going to arrest Reyes on Tuesday at his apartment.

They never got their chance.

At Monday afternoon's roll call, Glendale Heights patrol officers were given a description of Reyes, the blue Geo Metro he was seen in and other relevant information. Less than an hour later, Officer Robert Swartz was driving by the Convenient store and saw a man matching Reyes' description.

Swartz called for backup, followed Reyes and his girlfriend down Fullerton Avenue, and when the reinforcements showed up, stopped the car. Reyes was unarmed and surrendered peacefully, authorities said.

His girlfriend was not arrested and authorities say they have no plans to pursue Reyes' family on other charges.

Reyes is expected to be returned to Puerto Rico shortly after Tuesday's hearing. He'll have a prison sentence of 248 years for the kidnapping and murder waiting for him, Lopez said.